Araluen cuts ties with UQP after reports publisher will pulp picture book
Thursday, 23 April 2026
Stella Prize-winning Goorie and Koori poet Evelyn Araluen has announced she will terminate projects and contracts she holds with University of Queensland Press (UQP), after it was reported the publisher...
Melbourne Books acquires Holdsworth memoir “Smack Talk”
Thursday, 23 April 2026
Melbourne Books has acquired world rights to memoir Smack Talk: Turning Grief into a Movement by Australian father Wayne Holdsworth. According to the publisher, the book is a “deeply personal...
“Pissants” to be adapted for television
Thursday, 23 April 2026
Filmmakers Jesse Laurie and Lewis Mulholland have optioned television rights to Pissants by Brandon Jack (Summit Books), via Alice Cottrell on behalf of the Jane Novak Literary Agency. Laurie, a...
NSW Literary Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 NSW Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted works in each category are: Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) Cure (Katherine Brabon, Ultimo) Arborescence (Rhett...
Crema new owner of Robinsons
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Denis Crema is the new owner of the Robinsons Bookshop chain. Founded by Philip and Moira Robinson, the Robinsons business began as a local bookshop in the Melbourne suburb of...
Magabala, the Book Show warn of fraudulent emails
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Radio National and publisher Magabala Books have each warned creators about fraudulent emails being sent to authors. Magabala said an email from someone claiming to be a Magabala editor had...
Saunders illustrations win at Bologna Illustrators Exhibition
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Australian illustrator Lauren Saunders is among the winning illustrators at Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) Illustrators Exhibition. A jury selected Saunders’s illustration set of 5 artworks as a winning entry,...
A&U acquires Jenkins’s “Bad Neighbours”
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to forthcoming crime novel Bad Neighbours by Joanna Jenkins via Gaby Naher of The Naher Agency. Featuring Ruth Dawson, the main character...
Publisher of Patterson memoir to be revealed in “coming weeks”
Monday, 20 April 2026
A memoir by Simon Patterson, the estranged husband of murderer Erin Patterson, has been acquired by an as-yet-unnamed publisher, reported the Guardian. Patterson’s spokesperson, Jessica O’Donnell, told Guardian Australia that...
Local authors longlisted for 2026 CWA Daggers
Monday, 20 April 2026
Local authors Sam Guthrie, Laura McCluskey, Zoë Rankin and Jennifer Trevelyan are among those whose works have been longlisted for the UK Crime Writers’ Association’s (CWA) 2026 Dagger Awards. Guthrie,...
State Library of NSW releases research showing benefits of libraries
Monday, 20 April 2026
The State Library of NSW has released new research highlighting the social value and community benefits of libraries. Key findings from the report, released in late March 2026, include: People...
Bloomsbury reorganises its global publishing business
Thursday, 16 April 2026
Bloomsbury is reorganising its global business, with a new structure coming into effect on 1 June 2026, affecting an estimated 55 roles across the UK and US. Locally, Bloomsbury’s Asia-Pacific...
HGCP acquires “Sagittarius Rising”
Thursday, 16 April 2026
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has acquired world rights to children’s chapter book Sagittarius Rising by author Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrator Jade Goodwin. Senior publisher Chren Byng said, “For...
Paragraph Fellowship to award two prize winners from 2026
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
The Paragraph Fellowship will extend the award to two fellows in 2026 thanks to the Dyson Bequest’s contribution to the Time to Write fund. There will be a one-off payment...
Walsh’s “God AI” sells into North America, UK, India
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Black Inc. has sold North American, UK, Indian subcontinent and audio rights to God AI: Boom or Doom? What to Expect When Machines Outsmart Us (Toby Walsh, La Trobe University...
Audible adds new lower-price tier
Tuesday, 14 April 2026
Audible has launched a new standard membership tier in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and France. Priced at A$8.99 locally, the new tier offers subscribers one...
Regional shortlist released for 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Tuesday, 14 April 2026
One Aotearoa New Zealand writer and one Australian writer are among the finalists for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The works shortlisted for the Pacific region are: ‘Bitter Water...
SWF responds to bookseller criticism
Monday, 13 April 2026
In a statement responding to bookseller criticism of its approach to competing events, the Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) has stated that it is “supportive, on a case-by-case basis, of an...
“Magpies” magazine to cease publication of Source database
Monday, 13 April 2026
The Source, a database and subject guide to children’s literature with an emphasis on publications from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, will cease operation at the end of June 2026....
ABA announces inaugural lifetime achievement award
Monday, 13 April 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has created a new Lifetime Achievement in Bookselling Award for “an individual who has given extraordinary and sustained service to bookselling in Australia”. According to...
Ena Noël Award 2026 winners announced
Monday, 13 April 2026
The Australian branch of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has announced the winners of the 2026 Ena Noël Award. The winners of the award are author...
Storylines Awards 2026 winners announced
Monday, 13 April 2026
The Storylines Trust has announced the 2026 winners of the Storylines Awards in Aotearoa New Zealand. The winners are: Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award Tim Tipene Gaelyn Gordon Award...
Upswell acquires Anatolitis’s “Who’s Afraid of Australian Artists?”
Thursday, 9 April 2026
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights for Who’s Afraid of Australian Artists? by Esther Anatolitis. Anatolitis will examine artistic practice, arts policy and political sentiment, framed by the voices of...
Shakthidharan among Windham-Campbell Prize 2026 winners
Thursday, 9 April 2026
Sydney playwright S Shakthidharan has won a 2026 Windham-Campbell Prize, worth US$175,000 (A$249,000). Shakthidharan was selected in the category of drama for his “ambition and scale, and his deep care...
Stella Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Thursday, 9 April 2026
The shortlist for the $60,000 Stella Prize for works by Australian women and non-binary writers has been announced. The shortlisted books are: The Rot (Evelyn Araluen, UQP) Memorial Days (Geraldine Brooks, Hachette)...
Blake Poetry Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
Liverpool Powerhouse and WestWords have announced the poets shortlisted for the 2026 Blake Poetry Prize, worth $5000. The shortlisted works are: “Aftermath” by Terri Slanovits “Father” by Phillippa Cordwell “Jigar...
New ASA mentorship program winners announced
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced the winners of mentorships in the 2026 CA/ASA Developmental Leadership Program. Thirteen creators have won the opportunity to work with an experienced...
CBCA 2026 shortlist announced
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced the shortlist for the 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. The shortlisted books in each category, selected from the 2026 Notable...
Create NSW launches affordable residencies program for writers, illustrators
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Create NSW has announced the establishment of the Rocks Creative Terraces Affordable Residencies Program, which it says “fulfils one of the first commitments outlined in Stories Matter: A Writing and...
Queensland Literary Awards moves to BWF for “foreseeable future”
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
The Queensland Literary Awards (QLAs) will become part of the 2026 Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF), with a BWF spokesperson confirming to Books+Publishing that BWF would be administering the awards "for...
